Maxime de la Rocheterie on Marie-Antoinette

"She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr."

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

A Note on Reviews

Unless otherwise noted, any books I review on this blog I have either purchased or borrowed from the library, and I do not receive any compensation (monetary or in-kind) for the reviews.

Welcome, Guests!

Monday, May 18, 2015

I hope this letter finds you all well and
happy. We have been enjoying a most beautiful springtime. The long sunny
days have been riddled with rain showers, but such is life. Our friend
and neighbor Patti passed away. She lived in the tiny guest cottage in
our back garden, which she enriched with herbs, flowers and a lush
vegetable plot. She had kept her serious illness from us until she was
weeks away from the end and then it all happened very quickly. Her
friends took her away and she died in Maine within sight of the ocean.
In your charity, please pray for the repose of her soul. I am keeping
her beloved garden going, and one of the neighbors came and planted red
geraniums. Amid life there is always death but eternity lies beyond the
veil.

We went to Frederick County to spend a weekend with our dear friends,
Virginia, Chip and their girls. They are the owners of the famous Chartreuse and Company which I have mentioned a few times on the Tea at Trianon
blog. There is nothing like Frederick County in the spring; the air is
fragrant with honeysuckle and flowering mountain shrubs. We enjoyed
sitting on the terrace in the torchlight, talking, and partaking of
delightful beverages, far into the night. Virginia and I discussed the
possibility of me having a book-signing at her shop some time in the
fall. By then my new non-fiction book on Marie-Antoinette will be
published. As many of you know, Virginia published the first edition of Trianon
for me; it would never have gotten off the ground otherwise.
Marie-Antoinette would feel quite at home at Chartreuse. Not only would
she have loved the furniture but the old milking parlor looks similar to
Marie-Antoinette's dairy, and there is even a little mill. A spot of
pure enchantment!

My new novel The Paradise Treecontinues
to garner critical acclaim and the sales are really picking up. It sold
out at Chesapeake Trading Company in St. Michaels and I had to
replenish the stock. The books are also available at the News Center in
Easton, in the "Local Authors" section. Mrs. Anne Stinson in the May 2015 edition of the Tidewater Times
gave it a glowing review, saying: "It's obviously a book of love, a
fascinating read from a lyrical writer." What makes me very happy as
well is that several of Daniel O'Connor's descendants, my cousins in
Canada, have told me how much they enjoyed the book. My cousin Chip
O'Connor wrote on Facebook:

Dear Mary Eileen, I just finished reading The Paradise Tree. I
enjoyed it immensely. I imagine many families have stories worth
telling. We, the O'Connors, are blessed to have someone such as you who
can tell so well the story of an important part of our history. Fergus
(Chip) O'Connor

In the meantime, I am pondering starting a radio broadcast on Blog Talk
Radio. It will be about history, focusing on Marie-Antoinette, of
course, and hence will be called Tea at Trianon Radio. I hope to
interview some of the experts on the subject. More on that to come...In
the meantime, I still post daily on the Tea at Trianonblog on "history, literature, manners, morals and matters of faith" while the morning Gazette du Trianon collects historical, political and social news. TheTea at Trianon Forum is available for discussion. And if you know anyone who would like to receive this newsletter, please send me their email.

Once again I am asking readers who enjoyed The Paradise Tree to use Facebook and Twitter to spread the word. Here is the link to the Amazon page.
For those with an Amazon account, a positive review is always
appreciated. For those who have posted reviews since my last letter, I
cannot thank you enough!

La Reine-Martyre

New Biography of the Queen

Marie-Antoinette's Daughter

In Kirkus Top 20 for 2014!

An Amazon Bestseller!

A Kindle Bestseller!

Listen to Tea at Trianon Radio

All about Marie-Antoinette!

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St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

"...Bud forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters. Give ye a sweet odor as frankincense. Send forth flowers, as the lily...and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in his works." —Ecclesiasticus 39:17-19

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